1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to novel hydroxyl-functional polyethers based on divinylarene dioxides and a process for preparing said novel hydroxyl-functional polyethers.
2. Description of Background and Related Art
Hydroxyl-functional polyethers are components used in various thermoplastic and thermoset formulations, wherein such formulations, in turn, are useful in a wide variety of applications such as thermoplastic and thermoset compositions and articles. Typically, previously known hydroxyl-functional polyethers are prepared by reacting conventional epoxy resins and diphenols. For example, polyethers prepared using an equivalent excess of epoxy resin with diphenols are known as solid epoxy resins (SER) such as those SERs described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,456,408; polyethers prepared by an equivalent excess of diphenol with epoxy resins are known as phenolic epoxy resins (PER) such as those PERs described in “Epoxy Resins”, H. Q. Pham and M. J. Marks, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2005, p. 45; and polyethers prepared using approximately equal equivalents of epoxy resins and diphenols are known as poly(hydroxylethers) (PHE) such as those PHEs described in British Patent No. 980509.
It is always a challenge in the field to develop hydroxyl-functional polyethers offering improved properties, such as greater thermal resistance; and which can be used in a wide variety of applications. Therefore, it would desirable to provide hydroxyl-functional polyethers having improved properties such as improved heat resistance while maintaining the same molecular weight of the polyether product; and/or it would desirable to provide hydroxyl-functional polyethers having a lower viscosity while maintaining the same heat resistance of the polyether product, when compared to known analogs of such polyethers.